Who Police's the Polis????

[peter]

Nearly every night I walk up to meet my missus coming from work I see Police vehicles of all types. They come flying from out of Drumchapel (I presume) Sirens screaming and speeding like bats out of hell. I think well if that was me I would be in the pokey in jig time. Cars are bad enough however I see them speeding about in vans and as an experienced van driver I am appalled at the reckless way they charge aeound. Their vans are not suitable for such wild driving. I cannot see how or why they have to drive like that. What emergency requires such lunacy??.
As a driver I have to do legal / signed van checks daily. If even a light buld is out I could be stopped and could be liable for any thing not in working order.What pisses me off is that many COP cars have brake and sidelights not working so how do the Boys in Blue gat away with breaking laws we would be getting humped for....
the Bastards.................. End of rant.

[Delmont St Xavier]

I once pulled up beside Traffic Police and motioned them to put down their window - then told them that the rear, nearside brake and tail lights were not working. Response, "what the f**k has it to do with you?' I closed window and drove on - then phoned my 'wee pal' based at Helen Street and gave him details of said vehicle, and policeman's epilet details... and thought no more about it.

Six or so months later, my wee pal phones me and asks me to do him a favour and when we meet up, he introduces me to the sarcastic polis from that night. Lo and behold, I was doing the favour for this 'fuckwit' but my wee pal took great delight in reminding him that I was the guy trying to do him a favour that night and the guy cringed with embarrasment and duly apologised....but yes, I still did him the favour but gave him no discount and no special treatment.

[DickyHart]

peter , who is gonna pull them up?

Delmonts post shows you the sort of reply your gonna get if you mention it. And well done to you Delmont for doing so. But unfortunatly most of us dont have the chance for the comeback that you did. Good on you sir.

[Excalibur]

If you have a genuine grievance with the driving then you should attend at a police station and ask to speak to a supervisor to make a complaint. Depending on the seriousness of any complaint, it is investigated by either an Inspector within the same division or senior officers from the Professional Standards department.

It will be balnced of course, against the nature of the call they were attending. Plus your definition of dangerous driving may differ from someone elses. Some of the vehicles the police use are not designed for emergency response, but then again, if you're responding to a genuine emergency in which someone may be hurt or worse, you're going to be a little tempted to put the foot down. And it's vital to have vans with internal cells on patrol. That said, poor drivers aside, I don't know of anyone who would risk their lives just to get to a call a minute sooner. You're no use to anyone if you're dead.

Lights out on police vehicles are inexscusable - officers are supposed to check the vehicle before taking it out for a shift, and inspect it for damage or defects. I've had a few people say to me (politely it should be said) that I've left my lights on or I've had a bulb out, and I've always thanked them and sorted out as soon as I can.

Although the fact that you refer to all police as "bastards" suggests a hint of dislike for them, and perhaps your tone to the traffic cops was less than cordial? Then again, they are traffic cops....

Bottom line is - if they have lights and sirens blazing they should be en route to an emergency. If you want to complain about it, ask to speak to a Sergeant at the station and complain about it there.

[peter]

The use of the term " Bastards" is purely generic. However i still am not convinced that any emergency requires speeding. The vans I see are not designed for cornering at speed. Anyway who is going to challenge a copper speeding or tell em their lights are out and risk their ire.

[hungryjoe]

Most of the police officers I have met have been cunts.

[Riotgrrl]

I was in the back of a police car once accompanying a child who had just been arrested on a serious charge (long story; ended well.)

And they put on the blue light and the siren and sped along to Helen St Station. Although the young person in the back wasn't going anywhere but Helen Street, and there was absolutely no urgency to it at all.

I was gobsmacked.

[HollowHorn]

This is a very silly thread. the vast majority of police officers in this country offer an outstanding service to joe public.
High time we showed some appreciation. Credit to where it is due.

[DickyHart]

This is a very silly thread. the vast majority of police officers in this country offer an outstanding service to joe public.
High time we showed some appreciation. Credit to where it is due.

fair enough, most police officers I know are good enough folk, just wanting to do their shift with minimal hassle, as would anyone in their job, whatever it may be.

But like any industry, (dunno if ya can count police work as an industry), there are folk who take it too far, and ive met those sort of police officers in my travels as well.

Ive got to work with community police a lot in my job and the majority have been really nice and friendly They do want to make a difference. The problem is, they keep moving they community officers around. Once they have build up relationships up with the locals, they move them. So it starts all over again. So any achievements they have made is lost.

I can tell you from experience there was a community copper in the cambuslang area, who was moved to somewhere else simply because he was not arresting enough people. I still go for a pint with him on occasion. He was not happy about this decision, as he was trying to deal with the problems rather than give young folk criminal records.

As far as traffic police go, well even the normal police dont like them!

[Lucky Poet]

I used to have a pet theory that policemen were ok to interact with until they grew a moustache, which indicated that they'd gone over to the dark side, never to return. Sadly, the general rejection of facial topiary over the last fifteen years amongst our constabulary has knackered that particular notion. Back to the drawing board.

[Josef]

I once proffered that very theory to someone who was , at the time, the head of the disciplinary section of one of the UK police forces.

A couple of weeks later, he came back and said "You know, you're right.'

[hungryjoe]

This is a very silly thread. the vast majority of police officers in this country offer an outstanding service to joe public.
High time we showed some appreciation. Credit to where it is due.

I'll offer credit where it's due to the utter fucking thugs in uniform who beat the crap out of me twice before I was a grown man.
To the thugs in uniform who hospitalised 2 friends in separate incidents.
Who used to gather like sharks in a feeding frenzy every time my dad's pub got burgled, looking for free swally and a half bottle to take with them "cos the insurance'll cover it".
Who take the easy route and harass or persecute the weak.
Who fabricate evidence, or lie, to get a conviction.

I could go on and on. I've had to deal with the police because of my job for large parts of my life, and while it's true that there are decent cops, most are bullying cunts.

[The Egg Man]

On the day when an HMIC report, 'Valuing the Police' shows 11% of the police are visibly available to the public, despite year-on-year increases to budgets for the last 40 years. HMIC warns that with looming budget cuts, the availability of the police to the public will be even further reduced, unless there is a total redesign of the police, does anyone else wonder why warranted police officers are being used to dig up the back gardens of Peter Tobin's former homes? I can understand the need for police supervision to maintain a chain of evidence but anecdotal evidence suggests the jobcentres are full of unemployed (and much cheaper) archaeologists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cardiff/2010/ ... es-will-be

[BrigitDoon]

...does anyone else wonder why warranted police officers are being used to dig up the back gardens of Peter Tobin's former homes? I can understand the need for police supervision to maintain a chain of evidence but anecdotal evidence suggests the jobcentres are full of unemployed (and much cheaper) archaeologists.

Forget the archaeologists. They take ages dusting everything off. What you need is a couple of West Country builders. They know exactly what they're looking for.

[Josef]

On the day when an HMIC report, 'Valuing the Police' shows 11% of the police are visibly available to the public, despite year-on-year increases to budgets for the last 40 years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cardiff/2010/ ... es-will-be

I've chased that link down a further four levels, and I still don't know whether it means '11% at any given time' or '11% ever'.

If the former, I'd reckon that that was fairly understandable. If the latter, It sounds a bit low, but you'd have to know what 'visibly available to the public' means. Wandering the streets, I suspect. Which to my mind is not the same thing at all.